Predacon Base: Instruments of Destruction, Thread Three

All activity in the Predacon base will now be played out in this thread.

Most Predacons are out in various missions but Sentinel, the stolen Maximal security system, is every vigilant, now protecting those it was created to subdue. Weary from yet another defeat, Megatron and his forces are on their way home.

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The Predacon leader spewed invectives almost the entire route home. Usually a calm and collected leader, it was rare when Megatron truly gave in to his anger and let it consume him. However, now was one of those times. He had been given one of his humiliating defeats yet (still not as bad as the foible with Rhinox and the energon virus... ugh) while merely making a desperation play.

And now, he was returning home to lick his wounds rather and celebrate his triumph. Megatron's landing was not a smooth one, as his energon reserves were growing low and he was too preoccupied to really focus on the ground getting closer to him. But this only serves to put him in an even fouler mood. He needed a trip to a CR tank and he needed it immediately. Any other Predacons in need of repair, no matter how critical, would have to wait their turn. Such were the benefits of being the most powerful Predacon around, be it by raw power or extortion.

Feeling his joints begin to grind a little more with each motion, Megatron stomped down the passageways to the repair bay and lowered himself in. In a few breems, at least, any physical remains of the battle would be forever gone. However, the psychological sting of his most recent defeat would not mend so quickly.

Cicadacon buzzed ahead of his fellow gestalt team members, "Defeats are beginning to get annoying," he said, "We shouldn't have lost to those Maximals, not again," he said to Seaclamp and Ramhorn. He was getting rather downbeat about being beaten. Magnaboss was a tough opponent, perhaps not as strong as Tripredacus but smarter and Cicadacon reckoned that was the difference, "If we could only find a way of turning the tables on that Maximal we would emerge triumphant and then no one would stand in our way for greatness!"

Inferno trailed in behind anyone. He was low on energy having been in a damaged state for quite sometime having taken some severe beatings. What little sanity he held within his mind was now telling him it would be a good idea to follow his Queen to the medical area so that he could find a CR chamber to recharge and repair.

From behind Cicadon and Inferno lumbered Ramhorn, no worse for wear than the number of other times he had suffered a humiliating and brutal defeat. His carapace was broken and cracked in several different places, many of which caused him incredible discomfort. His joints sparked and fizzled as they forced themselves against one another. His left optic hung from the outside of his head on but a single wire. He was sitting 'pretty'.

"... W-well-l-l-l... I-I-I d-don't... don't... see wh-what we could do... we-we're... I-I m-mean, Tripredacus-s is... un-unstoppable, r-right?" Ramhorn inquired. Of course he had no concept of tactics, but now he was even more adled than before. "Stu-stupid el-l-l-l-lephant-ant..." He mumbled to himself, still upset from the beatdown he had recieved from the Maximal, Ironhide.

Heading to Repair Bay

"The evidence of two defeats suggests that Tripredacus isn't unstoppable. His natural ferocity is great for mindless killing but the Maximal is able to out think, that's where it's advantage lies," said Cicadacon wearily, Ramhorn really wasn't the best Predacon to chat with when it came to tactics, "We could try to lure Magnaboss into a trap, give him no time to think and we would be able to over power him. I also think we got caught up in fighting the other Maximals too much. If we were just to focus on the Maximals who form Magnaboss, we might be able to deal them enough damage so that when it is Tripredacus' turn he'll be in far better shape.

Darksyde Passageway

Even as every gear and circuit in his frame ached and begged for the healing touch of the CR chamber, Tarantulas kept moving. Being able to slink away from the battle just ahead of the retreating Predacons meant he'd gotten here first. With Megatron in such a terrible mood, the risk was enormous, but thank the Pit for his own poor condition! This moment alone would have to do.

Megatron's Private Quarters

Bypassing the locks was easy enough for the spider, despite the far more complex security system here. Megatron was the type to stab a foe in the back at the first opportunity; he certainly knew avoiding the same was vital.

Of course the room had that extra touch of regalia - Megatron was practical, but hardly spartan. Tarantulas also knew how careful he would have to be. Before doing a thing, he scanned the room for security devices, alarms, and so he could recall the exact state of the room right now. The driver was his to borrow, as keeping it would immediately arouse suspicion. Later, he'd have to find a way back in here.

With door sealed behind him, Tarantulas approached the driver, hovering in a stasis field to keep it out of the hands of... well, the spider had to be near the top of the list of offenders. He could barely silence a low cackle at the thought.

At the base of the field, Tarantulas placed the disruptor and carefully installed it. The device would only last a moment, but that was all he required. As it activated, a stray arachnid leg caught the Transmetal 2 driver while Tarantulas used his hands to pull out the decoy stowed away for this moment. His hands moved away to drop the device just as the stasis field switched back on and placed the fake driver just where the original had been.

Pulling away the disruptor and wiping his tracks clean, Tarantulas left Megatron's quarters in haste, while there was nobody yet to discover any intrusion. And in a nanoclick, it was as if nobody had gone down the passage in the first place.

Outside the Darksyde

Fractyl was beside himself with excitement as he and Laserbeak finally returned to the Predacon headquarters. Megatron would be most pleased to see just what they had stumbled upon in the swamp... Fractyl cast his gaze downward to see if Hydroc was still following them. He had to confess, the Predacon's stamina did impress him. After all, he'd followed them this far on foot...

Swooping down and landing beside Hydroc, Fractyl motioned towards the Darksyde with his wing, grinning widely. "This..." he said, his voice filled with a certain amount of excitement, "Is the Darksyde. Our headquarters. I'm certain Megatron would have some choice words with you, war general..." And with these words he took to the sky once more, motioning with his head for the Transmetal to follow.

Would have followed the other Predacons that were present, back to there base of operations. Curiously, those large green optics stared at the place. A sense of foreboding washed over the Predacon medic as she started to clear the last bit of distance between her current location outside and the base proper.

Having no clue, about any of the bases defenses or passwords, she would simply walk towards it almost blindly. her armor was cracked and rented in some places due to the grenade that had been sat off. One of her optics had a visable crack in it and her left wing was twisted and ripped at a horribly odd angle. Numbing pain coming from her back as well as her own low energon reserves setting in she tried opening a com, well it was more of an open channel unless it was jammed she would say.

"Predacon Medic Scramble of the Aaxalon exploration vessel medical exchange, seeking permission to board..." Falling silent after that she simply left the com open. Tired, in pain and still a fair bit of shock from killing earlier, she just waited...either for an answer or oblivion.

Cicadacon received Scramble's and went to the main entrance. He checked the monitor system on the door just in case it was a cunning Maximal plan, no time was better to hit an enemy than just after a heavy defeat. However all Cicadacon saw was the single Transformer in a rather poor state of repair. Still just in case he drew his swords and opened the door, "What do we have here? A medic in need of a medic?"

Outside the Darksyde

The Transmetal Crocodile that had followed Fractyl and Lazorbeak from out of the swamp now trekked across not swamplands, but jagged stone and lava fields; this day was anything but enjoyable for the Predacon. Thankfully, Hydroc's hover configuration made traversing the terrain an easy task. But how Megatron could suffer in such a horrible enviorment was beyond him.

"So do I," Hydroc responded to Fractyl.

Approaching the ship, Hydroc then saw Scramble weakly inching her way to the vessel. Transforming to robot form, it approached the tiny creature. Before he had time to properly analyze its wounds, the door to the ship opened and a unknown fighter emerged, two blades drawn. Taking this as an attack, Hydroc activated his laser blaster modules and fired upon Cicadon.

As the ships doors opened, the Medic couldn't help but smile a little at the Predacons use of irony. She had not noticed Hydrocs approach until well, he shoot off a blast of his weapon towards the sword wielding Predacon.

"Fraking..Slag.." she cursed throwing herself to the left and onto the ground, and smacking her arms over her head defense, simply trying to make herself a smaller target before this apprent fire fight that was about to break out got started in full. She simply didn't have the fuel to partake in another skirmish right now...

Cicadacon hadn't expected the arrivals of others, "Agh!" he yelped in surprise. He dodged the incoming fire, "You'll pay for starting this fight!" he shouted at Hydroc but first he decided to rescue the wounded Predacon cowering in the dust before him. Cicadacon transformed into his cicada mode and buzzed over Scramble. He grabbed her about her body with his six legs and buzzed back inside trying to avoid the shooting at him, "If you're part of this attack I'll kill you too," he whispered at her while flapping his wings.

Outside the Darksyde

Terragator hadn't stopped grinning since he and Scramble had left the battlefield where he'd witnessed the new found medic tear the life out of a would-be Maximal. Yes, this new recruit was going to go far. Terragator grinned down at the Maximal's severed head. A fitting trophy for Megatron no doubt. Hopefully his business with the tower had gone well. If not well... Hopefully this would put the Predacon commander in better spirits.

The Fuzor wasn't prepared for a trigger happy newcomer however. As Hydroc's shots rang out, Terragator practically lept in the air, whirling around with his shield raised. "Just what the slag d'you think you're doing?" Terragator yelled. "You Maximals must be gettin' pretty desperate to send one soldier against our entire base. Believe me, it'll be the last mistake you'll ever make!" Terragator leveled his rifle at the trigger happy newcomer and let off a shot in his direction, hoping to cover Cicadacon and Scramble's retreat.


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Outside the Darksyde

"Hydroc, No!" Fractyl shouted as he watched the Transmetal fire upon Cicadacon. But he was too slow. "He's one of us! He's one of the Predacons! Hold your fire for Primus' sake, hold your fire!" The chances of a full blown fire fight erupting in front of the Darksyde made Fractyl forget the "manners" which Hydroc demanded. The geologist was beginning to wonder if he hadn't made an enormous mistake. Since awakening him, Hydroc had threatened to kill him twice, threatened Laserbeak and now he'd fired upon a Predacon without provocation. The Predacons were renowned for being a motley and dangerous crew but had Fractyl finally stumbled on to a Transformer who was too unstable for the Predacons?

Then again, if Megatron found a way to control Rampage, how much worse could Hydroc be? The geologist just hoped that Hydroc would prove to be worth as much trouble as he'd been causing. He'd certainly score them points in the tactics and psychological fields, but then again he'd already proven to be VERY short tempered...
"There are no Maximals here, War General." Fractyl muttered, hoping to defuse the situation. "Please, let's just go inside and speak with Megatron? I doubt very much that killing your fellow soldiers is an effective way to manage a campaign!"

Outside the Darksyde

The trio of Predacons had been separated when leaving their battle, and as Buzzclaw was generally in good shape and still able to fly, he'd taken the rear to ensure their Maximal foes hadn't followed their retreat. He didn't expect as much, but precaution did not need to be discarded just because they'd won a new recruit and one dead, previously irritating, Maximal. He also didn't feel in high spirits the way Terragator did with that grin plastered on his faceplate. Buzzclaw was, after all, still cradling his severed hand.

But finally reaching the base to the sounds of combat and one large, dangerous newcomer, Buzzclaw at least felt better about one thing - another Predacon had screwed up worse than he did. With any luck, this disturbance would mean Megatron would overlook any potential wrongdoing in his excursion with Terragator. Of course, Terragator retaliating wouldn't help, and Buzzclaw had to contain his own urge to jump into the fray, remaining as calm as he could under the circumstances.

Wait. Did that featherless turkey say war general? Nobody of such a rank was on the roster, last I checked... must be another new, but unstable, arrival. Buzzclaw landed next to Terragator and shoved the weapon down and away from Hydroc. "Enough of that! Last time I checked, firing directly at a Predacon general is still treason, Terragator!" He hissed at the fellow Fuzor.

Outside the Darksyde

As Cicadacon buzzed past with Scramble in tow Sea Clamp stepped into veiw between his gestalt brother and the incoming fire. A few blasts impacted on his hardened armor shell and the brute did not flinch. Sea Clamp was about to jump into the thick of it but Fractyl began explaining the situation to the newcomer so Sea Clamp Stood straight up and crossed his massive clawwed arms over his chest. He stood at the entrance, optics locked on Hydroc.

Offered no resistance as she was plucked from the ground., nor did she reply at the predacons whisper threat. She was simply too low on energy to bother. Stareing at the ground as it passed under her while Scaramble was touted towards the Predacon base.